Tea in the Night
by Lightningandashes
Summary: The events of The Age of Steel and the loss of Mickey finally catch up with Rose one night
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor emerged from the kitchen at the Tyler household to find Rose creeping down the hallways. She glanced around suspiciously, as if expecting someone to pop out from behind the sofa, and tiptoed into the room. In one hand was a mug, still slightly steaming and tucked under her arm was a magazine.

He grinned to himself as he slunk back into a corner. She hadn't seen him yet, and if she hadn't seen him... well, he could have some fun with this.

Rose slid down with a sigh into an arm chair. It was so incredibly comfortable that, were it not for the troublesome thoughts that had brought her here in the first place, she would have surely fell straight into dreamland. Unfortunately, from the moment they had left Mickey in Pete's world she hadn't been able sleep a wink. Only a few days had passed since then but every single moment had been filled with alien invasions, saving the world and just their average peril that she hadn't really had time to think of it. Every time they had an opportunity for rest she just collapsed directly into unconsciousness. But not tonight.

The Doctor meant well (he always _meant_ well) by dropping her off to have some time with her mother. There was no way he could have known that free time was the one thing she didn't need. When a giant frog was breathing down your neck, seconds away from eating you, you hardly had time to ponder over a long-lost best friend. Survival instincts kicked in and you lived for the moment.

Her thoughts wandered to what had happened, what could have happened and what a great mess the whole thing was. Which was why she was here, sitting on an old ratty arm chair and clutching the long-outdated pages of a magazine gossiping about celebrities she been gone long enough to miss. She peeled apart the pages, vaguely wondering what the Doctor was doing. He was _supposed_ to be sleeping upstairs but when she checked, the room was predictably empty. Not that she was looking for him of course. She wasn't that silly little girl, afraid of the demons under her bed. Albeit, her demons were somewhat worse than your average little girl's, and they were all too real, but there they were.

It didn't matter anyway. The Doctor was probably off tinkering with the TARDIS again. With a sigh, she unfolded the corner of the page and began to read.

The Doctor frowned, and backed up as silently as he could into the kitchen. Shaking himself, he put on his best cheery face and practically jumped into the living room.

"Oh, hello Rose!" he cried. "What are you doing up? Thought you said you were tired?"

Rose jumped, flinging her magazine and knocking over the mug. It rolled off the table and fell with a loud clunk onto the floor. Rose winced and looked up at the Doctor.

"It's nothing." She averted her gaze. "I just... couldn't sleep. Probably something to do with all the chocolate earlier, yeah?"

The Doctor coughed significantly as he eyed her tea." And you thought _tea_ would help you sleep?" He made his way over to the couch opposite her and sat down.

"No, I just thought maybe..." she trailed off and glanced downward. Silence was draped across the room, interrupted only by the occasional rumble of the dishwasher.

"So," the Doctor broke in," do you fancy watching a little telly? Not much on at this time of night, mind you, but might as well give it a go?" He cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows in question.

Rose sighed. "Sure, go ahead. I'm just gonna go... get some juice." She hastened to get up.

"You mind getting me a cuppa?"

"Sure."

The Doctor peered worriedly at her as she dashed off into the kitchen. _Sure_? That was definitely not the Rose Tyler he knew. Normally she would have given him a light teasing, at the very least. He shook his head and slouched back into the couch as the television flickered into life. A women, dressed in a homely dress and apron, began to speak directly into the camera, kindly informing her viewers of what a sad state their kitchens were in without her newest product. It was sure to sweep across the universe, she assured them.

The Doctor snorted. Yeah, he could just see all of those advanced races out in the universe traversing the galaxies just to receive their "no leak pepper primer pots".

He began flipping through the channels. Cartoons? Nah. The News? Dull. Soap Opera? For a moment the Doctor's finger hovered above the remote. He sighed and switched the channel again. It was probably the same rubbish that the human race had been (and would be) coming up with for quite some time. Was there really nothing decent on? No tolerance for anyone the least bit nocturnal, these humans!

Rose sidled back into the room clutching two brimming hot cups of tea. She shuffled slowly to the coach, careful not to spill a drop and passed the Doctor his while lowering herself down next to him.

"Ta."

"No problem." Rose took a sip and the Doctor turned to frown slightly at her over his cup.

"I thought you were getting juice," he said pointedly.

"I was, an then I found out we didn't have any, so I'm stuck with this.

The Doctor continued to look disapprovingly at her.

"Well you aren't exactly going light on the caffeine either, are ya?" she retorted.

"I told you, superior time lord biology," he said, smugness evident. "You know that, Rose. I don't need much sleep." That was true, she had to admit. The only time she'd ever seen him even dozing was during Christmas last year, and that was more of a coma than anything.

"Yeah, but you said you needed what…" she paused.

"One-sixth," he supplied.

"...of the sleep I do. So you still need to _sometime_. When was the last time you just a napped?"

"Last night. Before dinner."

"That doesn't count. You were just pretending to sleep so you wouldn't have to listen to mum go on about not visiting," Rose corrected. "She'll still slap you if you're unconscious, you know."

"Nah! I'd wake up from the sound of all that clanging and yelling and bashing, banging, baking… mmmm, do you think you can get her to make more biscuits?" he asked, looking very much the eager puppy.

Rose laughed. "I wouldn't count on it. 'Specially not after what happened to M-" she broke off, ducking her head downward towards her tea as she did.

She started again, "After… you know."

"Yeah I do." Silence reigned for a moment, for as long as it took the Doctor to muster up the ability to clear his throat. "Right, well now, Miss Rose, it is time for you to go to back to bed. Need to get plenty of rest, what with adventures and such to be had."

The Doctor glanced back at her tired face, and was surprised when he caught just a hint of desperation, maybe in the far off reaches of her eye, a little glint of fear. Though, just as quickly as he had been able to process the thought (which was very fast indeed), the look had disappeared.

"Come on, Doctor, please? Really can't sleep. Not here, anyway." Rose leant back into the cushions and shut her eyes. "You know the sound the TARDIS makes all the time, that funny sort of buzz?" She opened her eyes and began nodding quickly, having latched on to a feasible excuse.

The Doctor played along, and nodded with her.

"Well, I'm sorta… used to sleeping with it," she continued," and now that it's gone, I …can't."

"We _could_ always just leave," he suggested. Rose smacked him on the arm. "Ow!" He recoiled, a hurt look on his face.

"Don't be stupid. We've only just got here, and we can't ditch mum like that!"

The Doctor mumbled something incoherent, and presumably rude, something he would later claim to have no recollection of.

"Oi, watch it," she teased.

He grinned back in return. "But seriously Rose, you're going to bed."

"No I'm not."

"Rose, honestly, you really should-"

"Doctor, this is my house and I'm staying down here," she said with a touch of finality. "You can go," She paused and added hopefully, "or stay, but either way, I'm not going to sleep. Now, I'm going to watch telly."

The Doctor shifted irritably and mumbled something along the lines of a _humph! _but nonetheless settled down to watch.

Whatever it was, he decided a short while later, was terribly uninteresting. Rose had long since started yawning, and her eyelids drooping, reclined against the cushions.

"Doctor," she murmured.

"Hm?"

"If I fall asleep, wake me up when the movie comes back. Wanna see what happens… not sleeping, just closing my eyes." Yet, as soon as the words left her mouth, her head fell sideways and her breathing began to slow. A shiver crossed her body, and for the first time, the Doctor noticed that all she wore was a camisole and some gym shorts. Instinctively, and most likely against his better judgment, he pulled her gently against him. He dragged a woolen blanket over and draped it across until she was completely covered. The shakes ceased, he noticed, pleased. Now all that was left was to wait until she fell completely asleep. Which, based on her current rate, would be any minute.

Right on schedule, her heartbeats slowed down, straight to what the Doctor estimated would be normal for an unconscious human. As she shifted further into slumber, her head slid to rest on his shoulder and her nearest hand to clamp around his jacket.

Suddenly, impeccably, he was aware of their every movement, each thundering beat of her heart against his own two. However, he couldn't keep this constant vigilance up for long, the atmosphere was simply too draining. He felt himself start slipping into the dense fog of sleep that, for many weeks before, had eluded him. He could think of but two things in the world that could lull him into such a state of ease: his TARDIS, and, of course, Rose Tyler. Careful as ever not to wake her, he laid his head back next to hers.

Maybe she was right. Maybe he did need to rest. Content, he let his thoughts succumb to the fog, and feel asleep, happier than he had allowed himself to be in a long time.

_Thanks for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

"… and what would the neighbors think? Did you think of that? You didn't, did you? Well?" A loud screeching dragged Rose reluctantly from her dreams. She yawned and shifted back into a more comfortable spot. What was her mum yammering on about now? It was, by far, too early for this.

"Rose! Are you listening to me?" Another ear-jarring shriek sounded from somewhere off to her left.

Rose sighed inwardly. When her mum got on a roll, there was no stopping her, and whatever it was that she had supposedly done wrong, there was no way of getting away with it. She peeled her eyelids back and turned to glare at Jackie.

"What are you going on about mum?" she whined. "I'm tired. Can't I have just a little peace and quiet?"

Jackie's eyebrows flared up and she took a step forward. "Peace and quiet? Oh yes, I'm _sure_ that's exactly what you want! I'll give you peace and quiet!"

"Mum!" Rose practically shouted. "I'm still lost here!"

"You! And him!" she said, gesticulating wildly in the air. "Honestly Rose, I thought I raised you better than that. Maybe it's because of your father and all…" Jackie cut herself off, and seemed to blaze up with a new wave of anger. "And he's an _alien_ too!"

"What?" Rose still couldn't quite wrap her sleep-ridden mind around what her mother was getting at. Maybe in a few more hours…

"God, don't you lie to me. _Right_ there, cold hard evidence, just in front of me eyes!" She pointed with a wavering finger to a spot on Rose's right.

Rose turned her head and nearly crossed her eyes as she was confronted with a close-up patch of brown. Looking up, she saw to her amusement, the Doctor slumped back onto the edge of the couch, mouth wide and snoring. Funny, but scarcely need for her mum to shout.

Her eyes traveled down to her own arms, to where they were wrapped around the pinstriped suit, back up to _his_ arms, one slung about her back, and the other over her shoulder. Ah. That could be the problem. But how had they gotten like this? She remembered lying down on the sofa to watch some telly, and a vague argument about whether she should be sleeping, but after that she had no idea.

"Mum," she tried to explain, "we were sleeping, that's all."

Jackie uncrossed her arms and strode towards them, scowl still in place. "I'm sure." She turned back to the still dozing form of the Doctor. "And you! I bet you're not even sleeping." No answer. "Well, I'll solve that." In a huff, she bent forward and pulled back her arm.

"Mum, don't-" Rose tried.

WHACK!

Rose winced. At least she could say she tried.

Immediately after the slap struck him full across the face, The Doctor leapt up, dumping Rose onto the carpet, and spun around, frantically rubbing his cheek.

"Oi! What the hell was that for?"

"Oh, you know well what that was for, you sick lunatic!" She advanced on him slowly.

"Hey, now that's not very nice," he said nervously as he continued to retreat until he was standing behind Rose. When she too turn her glare on him, he kept backing up, at least until he tripped over the lounge and fell, sprawling onto his back. His attention flicked over to Rose for a moment, pleading.

"Now, you listen here, you-"

"Mum," Rose interrupted, "lay off of him. He didn't do nothing wrong."

Jackie whipped around and narrowed her eyes. "I'll deal with you later."

She turned back, mouth open and ready to start lecturing. She stopped dead, and stared in shock at the suddenly empty room.

Somewhere off behind them a door slammed. Jackie dashed to the open window.

"Well look at that! He's run off. Coward!"

And once more she turned around to find an empty house.

"Rose!"

"Rose get back here this instant!"

A voice drifted back to her from the doorway, accompanied by the loud banging of feet on stairs.

"Sorry mum, gotta go! Worlds to save!"

**Thanks for reading! I would love it oh so very much if you'd review :)**


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